The dinner lady who worked her way up to be a head teacher

A school dinner lady who wanted to give her young children a better life has fulfilled her ambition after being appointed head of a top performing primary school.

Single mother Sarah Hussey, 40, took on two jobs and studied for a degree in the evenings.

In 2000 she moved from the canteen to the classroom when she qualified as a teacher.

And last month she reached the pinnacle of her profession after becoming headteacher of Northwood Primary School, near Cowes, Isle of Wight.

Yesterday Miss Hussey, whose daughters are now 16 and 13, said: ‘I really enjoyed being a dinner lady. I loved working with the children and it seemed that becoming a teacher was naturally the next step.

‘What I have achieved shows that anyone can do it if they focus and put their mind to it.’

Although both her parents were teachers, Miss Hussey admitted that as a teenager she rebelled.She dropped out of Plymouth University after just one week and drifted between low-paid jobs in her home town of Carisbrooke on the island.

But after she became pregnant with her first child, Holly, Miss Hussey’s attitude changed.

She became a dinner lady then added a second job as a teaching assistant. She spent six years completing an Open University degree, and gained a Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) a year later.

In 2000 she became a teacher at Nine Acres Primary in Newport, Isle of Wight, and two years ago started training for her headteacher’s qualification.

‘It was tough being a single mum, combining bringing up my children with work, but I was determined to do it,’ she said.

‘I was working for hardly any money and what I was earning was going towards childcare.’

In September Miss Hussey took over as headteacher at Northwood Primary School, which has around 200 pupils.

Two years ago Ofsted awarded it an outstanding rating.

‘My job is amazing,’ Miss Hussey said.

‘Northwood is a fantastic school and I am relishing the challenge.’

■ A former nurse has been appointed chief executive of the Royal Bolton Hospital.Lesley Doherty, 52, who started as a student nurse in 1976, 34 years ago, said: ‘Patients will always be my first priority.’